Posted on 05/08/2015 6:46:05 AM PDT by don-o
Iran pundits know that serious undertakings by the regime require specific authorization from the supreme leader, Obamas pen pal Ali Khamenei. An excellent Iranian source, with an excellent track record on such matters, informs me that the supreme leader issued a fatwa on April 14th to two of Irans most powerful killers, Generals Mohammad Ali Jafari (head of the Revolutionary Guards), and Qassem Suleimani (head of the Quds Force), authorizing them to take any and all actions to destroy the Saudi royal family and its regime.
Its a big deal. According to this account, Khamenei authorized Jafari and Suleimani to work with non-Shia forces in the kingdom (most Iranian subversion to date has focused on the oil-rich eastern provinces, which are heavily Shia), and, as in the case of supporting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, there are no restrictions on budget or tactics. Khamenei has been quite outspoken of late on the Saudis, and you can hear echoes of the fatwa in a recent speech (barely a week afterwards).
I think you can also see its effect in the recent Iranian moves against ships in the Persian Gulf, which is a direct threat to the kingdoms lifeline to its customers in the West.
Khameneis move against the royal family is quite audacious, and could bespeak several very different convictions. He might believe that the strategic tide is running in his favor, and hence the moment favors a dramatic push against the Sunni king. Contrariwise, Khamenei might be concerned that things are going badly, and thus that he needs some spectacular victory to rally his own people and the turbulent jihadis in the region.
The biggest sign that things are going swimmingly comes from Washington, where the Obama willingness to favor, or at least tolerate, most any Iranian advance or demand has long since transcended shame and transmogrified into parody. When Pentagon lawyers coughed up the outrageous view that our defense pact with the Marshall Islands doesnt require us to do a thing for their captured ship and hostage sailors (except maybe pay off the mullahs, I suppose), it removed all doubt that we were the pulling guard for Irans end-run around law and order when and where they wish.
Having confirmed that Washington is still on his side, Khamenei dispatched Foreign Minister Zarif to New York, where he unburdened himself of a series of insults and peremptory barks at the United States. As Matthew Continetti of the Washington Free Beacon rightly stresses, most leading American commentators were enchanted by Zarifs outrage, but were not. Its a very bad sign, illustrating Tehrans recognition that the regime has won the battle for Washington, and our feckless elites rushing to the winning side.
They shouldnt be so confident. Certainly Khamenei has plenty of bad news. I discuss the domestic disaster here, and thats only the beginning of the dark cloud over the supreme leaders downtown palace. The seemingly relentless march of the Iranian hegemon across the Middle East and big chunks of Africa is stalled, blocked, or actually losing. Unexpectedly, some would say. All of a sudden we hear that Assad may fall, and the attendant rumors that Iran is considering alternatives in Syria (disinformation, as I see it, since Khamenei has long since told Jafari and Suleimani to go all in for Assad, whatever the cost in Iranian treasure [much of it Khameneis own money] and flesh). Hezbollah was sent on to the Syrian battlefield, and it hasnt been fun. Indeed, things are so bad that the regime has been trying to conceal the body count:
Thus far there are no official numbers for Hezbollah fatalities in Syria. In the progression from the secret burial of fighters who died carrying out their jihadist duties, to the announcement of fighting alongside the Syrian regime and open declaration of fatalities, and finally to the holding of public funerals for them, Hezbollah has kept the number of its losses secret. There has been no clear and honest explanation for the silence on these numbers. Logic leads us to two possible explanations: the party either does not want to reveal the magnitude of the losses it has incurred defending the Syrian regime, or it does not want to reveal the enormity of the figures compared to the number of fighters killed in the open conflict with the Israeli enemy. Perhaps both explanations are true.
Whatever explanation you favor, its obvious that the regime doesnt want the Iranian people to look at the story, right? Otherwise they wouldnt spike it. Nor would they order Iranian family relatives to hold burials in the middle of the night, nor tell Lebanese religious authorities to conceal the casualty figures, both of which are in effect.
I cannot vouch for accuracy of the source. Perhaps others can?
Perhaps that’s why Saudi Arabia is wanting to purchase the bunker busters.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.